Erik Darling joins Kendra Little to rate different SQL Server Performance Tuning Techniques in episode 81 of the Dear SQL DBA podcast. We share our opinions of... (deep breath)

Recompile hints, Query Store hints and plan forcing, CTEs, Resource Governor, the legacy cardinality estimator, Table Variables, Automatic Plan Correction, Batch Mode, index rebuilds, Hekaton, NOLOCK, page compression, partitioning, filtered indexes, columnstore, join hints, PSPO, indexed hints, indexed views, optimize for unknown, RCSI, adding more memory, restarting the damn thing, scalar UDFs, and Persisted Memory Grant Feedback.

Eugene Meidinger stops by to chat about Power BI Performance Tuning with Kendra. We talk about the various engines and languages used in Power BI and big-picture strategies for getting performance from the start. Eugene then talks about the community of tools and techniques that can be used to dig in and solve performance problems in Power BI.

Eugene's new Pluralsight course on Perf tuning Power BI launches on February 5th, 2024. The first 50 sales will be only $20. If you don't get one of those lucky spots, use code RACOONS to get 50% off.

Find more of Eugene's content at sqlgene.com.

SQL Server has a new feature that’s currently only available in Azure SQL Database: Optimized Locking. Jeremiah Peschka joins the podcast to talk through the docs and nerd out on locks, blocks, and how to pronounce the acronym “LAQ”.

Learn more about this feature online:

• Optimized locking article from Microsoft Learn
• Transaction locking and row versioning guide <– A much longer read on Microsoft Learn
• Kendra's Sketchnote diagram of Optimized Locking

Ever wondered what it's like to be a VP or Director of Engineering? Kendra chats with Alex Robson about leadership in technology, what you can get out of coaching or an MBA program (should you be interested), and what makes a high performing team. We'll also chat about recommended content to hone your tech leadership skills.

Alex Robson's site and blog: https://robsonconsulting.services

Alex's content recommendations for folks who want to think more about technical leadership:

"I believe Camille Fournier and Will Larson are wonderful writers with invaluable insights and advice. For product thinking, I recommend folks read The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, Principles of Lean Product Development Flow by Don Reinertsen, Safer Sooner Happier by Jonathan Smart, and Accelerate by Dr. Nicole Forsgren. Be sure to read books on leadership that are outside of engineering. Dan Pink’s Drive and Eliyahu Goldratt’s The Goal are two of my usual recommendations. Last but not least - read books that are about human behavior. Both economists and psychologists ask important questions that may help you unlock better ways to relate to and understand others. I love Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow, and highly recommend Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) by Carol Tavins and Elliot Aronson."

SQL Server performance tuning expert Erik Darling joins the podcast today to chat about how good queries can go bad, how bad queries can get better, and the question on everyone's mind: if he was a database, what database would he be?

This episode contains some mildly explicit language.

Erik's blog: https://erikdarlingdata.com/blog/
Erik's YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@ErikDarlingData

Tech interviews are weird and wacky. How did they get this way, and how SHOULD they be? Jeremiah Peschka joins us to discuss.

There are lots of jobs for data folks. In this episode, I'm discussing three hot job titles: Database Administrator (DBA), Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE), and Data Engineer (DE)

To see the venn diagrams I made for these roles, visit https://catalyzesql.com/blog/1/01/01/dear-sql-dba-data-roles-dba-dbre-de/

This podcast is available in blog post form: https://littlekendra.com/2023/06/21/when-not-to-choose-sql-server/

Many people use entrenched processes for database development that have been in place so long that it's hard to imagine doing it any other way. In this episode, I share three things that should NOT be normal for database development-- but which are incredibly common. This episode is inspired by the book, "The Unicorn Project", by Gene Kim.

I'm not an expert on collation in SQL Server, but there are a few important facts which I've had to learn the hard way. In this episode I share the basics, along with helpful resources to learn more.

One small localization correction: the default collation on a SQL Server install will be "the oldest available version that's associated with each specific locale." So if your Windows installation has a different localization than mine (which are generally English USA), then you'll see a different default collation -- but it still won't be the recommended collation for *new* development.

Learning Git can be daunting for DBAs. In this 20 minute episode, I discuss why learning a VCS is necessary for DBAs, then give three tips on scoping your project, choosing the right tools, and making sure the project is successful.

The cheat sheet I mention in the episode is at https://littlekendra.com/2019/11/27/my-git-cli-cheat-sheet/

Jobs change over time, and database administrator jobs are no different. In this 35 minute recorded Twitch livestream (my first ever!) I talk about threats to DBA jobs and the related opportunities.

In this session, I discuss scrum, continuous deployment, test driven development, DevOps, and related concepts. I close with a quick discussion of why Database Administrators and Developers should care about DevOps.

So you've got an employee agreement in front of you: now what? In this 23 minute episode, I talk about practical steps you should take to make sure that you understand the terms of your contract, and how to potentially negotiate the terms.

When you take a new job in software engineering or in IT, within the paperwork there often lurks an employee agreement: a contract between you and your employer. In this half-hour live episode we'll talk about why these contracts exist, and multiple anti-patterns you should avoid.

This is the first of a two part series. In the next episode, we'll talk best practices for understanding and negotiating the contract.

I've gotten a few questions about whether I recommend learning Service Broker, and recently I was asked if I'm planning to make any courses on Service Broker. In this episode, I talk about why I personally haven't become an expert with Broker, the factors that I believe play into Service Broker adoption, and other resources online for learning Service Broker in SQL Server.

New to learning SQL Server? Get the scoop on free online resources to look up information, ask questions of community members, and learn SQL Server from the ground up.

Links from the episode are at: https://sqlworkbooks.com/dear-sql-dba/training-resources-for-sql-noobs/

This week I discuss a question that I've gotten in many forms over the years - a lot of the scenarios are so specific that it's hard to keep them anonymous, but they can be generalized as a bigger problem: how do I deal with being responsible for things that I can't fully control?

DBAs have huge responsibilities, so this is a common, frustrating scenario. In this episode, I talk about a few times that I've experienced this in my own life, what techniques didn't work, and what strategies were more effective.

Our question this week comes from someone who's excited to be on a healthy career path, building their work experience as a DBA. They're worried: will lacking a college degree block their career growth down the line? I talk about my experience and also check out current job listings to answer the question.

In this episode, I talk about how to strategize for and prepare for Microsoft Certification exams, using the Database Fundamentals exam as an example.

Our question this week comes from an IT pro who would like to be self-employed. In this episode, I talk about three big things you need to think about to start working for yourself, and two possible paths to get there.

A few folks have asked: will auto-tuning and adaptive query plans mean the end of performance tuning jobs in SQL Server? In this week's episode, I talk about why I'm excited about those features rather than afraid of them. Digging into this problem, I share the #1 mindset problem I had as a DBA, why this mindset is so common among database professionals, and a daily habit that can change your approach to new technology.

SQL Server Service Packs are going away, starting with SQL Server 2017. I talk about why I think this is a good thing, and discuss Cumulative Updates, Service Packs, and the process of updating SQL Server.

People have strong feelings about SQL Server Management Studio: they love it AND they hate it. In this week's episode, I talk about why people have such conflicting feelings about SSMS, and how to work it all out.

A query is slow, and you figure out how to collect the query execution plan. Now what? In this episode I talk "big picture" about what execution plans are, what "cost" is, why to collect "compiled for" values, and the steps I take to analyze execution plans while performance tuning queries.